The easiest way to type in Italian (and other languages*) on your Windows PC

Run TypeIt

2

Choose your keyboard – for example, Italian

Click the icon in your taskbar to choose a language.
TypeIt will remember your last setting the next time you run it.

Why you’ll love TypeIt:

Obvious keyboard shortcuts.
Just press Alt + the key that’s most similar to the character you want to type.
For example, to type è, press Alt + E. If there are several characters based on the same letter (e.g. è and é), just hold Alt and keep hitting the same key (here: E) until you get the character you want.

Alternatively, you can type a letter like e, and then tap Ctrl one or more times to turn it into è or é.

I made TypeIt because I was tired of solutions where each foreign character has its own arbitrary shortcut.
I could never remember which key typed which character (“How do I type
é?
Was it [ , ; or maybe Shift + ;?”).
I don’t want to have to pause and think “how do I type that character?” – I want it to be obvious.

You can keep your existing keyboard layout.
TypeIt gives you the foreign characters you need, but doesn’t force
a whole new layout on you.*
It doesn’t change the way you type numbers and punctuation, so you won’t have to
get used to new ways of typing characters like ", ? or /.

If you are
an Italian-speaking software developer, TypeIt enables you to use the US English layout (which is the fastest layout for coding) while
having easy access to the characters of your language. No need to switch between two layouts (which is not only a hassle,
but also confuses your muscle memory) – you can have the best of both worlds.

Some solutions for typing foreign characters “take over” punctuation keys.
As a result, you can no longer type characters like the apostrophe or quote by simply pressing
' or " because these keys are instead used to type foreign characters.
While these solutions provide alternative ways to type an apostrophe or quote,
why should you struggle to learn a new way to type punctuation
just because you want to type
in Italian?

Pleasantly fast typing.
Why copy & paste characters from webpages when you can type them directly
into your applications and websites?

You can use it offline.
Flaky Internet access? No worries. With the TypeIt app, your
foreign characters are always available.

Includes the proper quotation marks (such as „ “ « or ») for each of the included languages.
Additionally, the curly apostrophe (’), English-style curly quotes (“ ”), long dashes
(– —) and other useful symbols (←→ ° ±×·≠≈≤≥²³ €)
are always available, whatever language you’re typing in, so you can type things like
20°, 2 × 4 and 100 m² without batting an eye.

Doesn’t get in the way. I like software that does the job without making a big fuss.
That’s why TypeIt consumes very little memory and CPU, and generally doesn’t bother you.

Just hold down the right-hand Alt key and press the letter that looks like the character you want to type. For example:

à

hold Alt and press A

èé

hold Alt and press E once or twice

ì

hold Alt and press I

Note that the most frequently used characters are typed with a single keystroke.
To type an uppercase letter, simply use Alt + Shift instead of Alt.

Alternative method:

Tap the right-hand Ctrl key (once or more) to modify the preceding character.
For example:

eCtrl=

è

eCtrlCtrl=

é

ECtrl=

È

You may find this method is easier on your fingers because you don’t have to press two keys at the same time.
It’s also a handy way to correct mistakes – for example, if you mistakenly typed
è, you can tap Ctrl
to turn it into é. (Optionally, you can use Caps Lock instead of Ctrl to modify the preceding character.)

Upgrade your keyboard

TypeIt is the best
foreign-language-typing experience in the known universe (by the way, here are some
comments from happy users).
You can upgrade your keyboard with TypeIt for just $17.50 (Extended Edition) or $12.50 (Standard Edition).

For a one-time fee, you get a lifetime license with free updates (minor fixes and improvements),
good for up to 3 computers in your household (for example, your desktop PC, your laptop
and your partner’s laptop) or one computer in an organization.
There is also a volume license for organizations – see below.

TypeIt takes only a few clicks to install. And it contains only TypeIt. No crapware. No advertisements.

Risk-free purchase: If you change your mind within 30 days of your purchase, you can get a problem-free refund.

License valid for 25 computers.
Get the convenience of TypeIt for your department or organization.

Try TypeIt

You can also download a trial version of the app, which includes all the keyboards (including IPA for all languages), but some characters are missing,
and a trial reminder is shown every few keystrokes. Can be used for up to 14 days.